Bio-on, once valued at €1.3 billion, became one of Italy’s biggest bioplastics scandals. Short seller Quintessential accused the company of inflated revenues, related-party transactions and exaggerated industrial capacity. Investigators later alleged its plant produced only a fraction of the volumes presented to investors. In 2024, several defendants were convicted at first instance over false accounting, though appeals are still pending. The Open Archive Bio-on now challenges parts of the accepted narrative, focusing on the company’s technology, patents and industrial history before its collapse.
Marco Astorri Post (X.COM)
Bio-On: the media have only reported the conclusions of its story — temporary conclusions, moreover. Now we will go back to the sources to understand what the Bio-On “bet” really was.
A bet that would have made not only shareholders and investors “winners,” but also the environment and the planet — in other words, all of us.
Here is the first release of a multi-author editorial project aimed at retracing the key moments of this story, the decisions, objectives and expectations that accompanied it.
Because to understand how a journey ended, sometimes you simply need to go back to what actually happened, stop “interpreting,” and stick to the facts and data.
If you want to explore this dossier, you can access largely unpublished documentation without filters: sign up to receive a notification when the first article goes online.
Here is the starting point — click here: https://openarchivebioon.eu/it/
Personal Remarks
Bio-on was audited by independent firms, including major international auditors also used by companies such as ENI. At the time, those auditors did not appear to identify problems serious enough to raise obvious alarm over Bio-on’s finances. It would therefore be interesting to know how the Italian government justified the destruction of Bio-on.